


Call It a Draw

by 3988Akasha



Series: Chicago [4]
Category: Revolution (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-25
Updated: 2013-06-25
Packaged: 2017-12-16 04:15:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/857663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3988Akasha/pseuds/3988Akasha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A surprise rebel attack forces Danny to re-evaluate everything he thought he knew about the Monroe Republic and the men who run it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Call It a Draw

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dragomir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragomir/gifts), [hithelleth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hithelleth/gifts), [ElDiablito_SF](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElDiablito_SF/gifts), [Timid_Timbuktu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timid_Timbuktu/gifts).



> Never written from Danny's POV, so hopefully it works...
> 
> Drago...enjoy, bb...this one's for you! :)

“I thought you said we didn’t have any officers – you were told to _kill_ all the officers.”

Danny watched the exchange from his place on the floor with the other captured men. Things had been going well for the past few weeks, nearly a month. He didn’t expect to enjoy being part of the militia, not that he was sure he was yet, but he’d gone along with all the training, figuring that even if he didn’t stick around he’d learn how to take care of himself and Charlie. Not that any of it mattered now because they were all handcuffed to the support beams of the abandoned factory they’d been taken to after being captured. This wasn’t what he’d envisioned when he’d decided to stick around and wait for Charlie to come because now he was mostly convinced he was going to die. When the attack started, they’d been out doing a small group patrol, their training officer off doing something else, one of the guys had mentioned a girl, leaving them on their own.  

“I didn’t bring any officers – they don’t even have the brand yet.”

“We have someone important enough for the newly returned General Matheson _and_ General Monroe himself to come for them. The scouts saw both men leading a small army; it’s like they emptied the _entire_ Capital. Who the hell do we have that would bring General Monroe out here?”

“They just left the Capital undefended?”

“Idiot, the Capital is _never_ undefended. I’m sure they left Captain Baker there. It would’ve been that bastard Neville left in charge if he weren’t with Matheson and Monroe. Who the fuck did you capture?”

“A bunch of no ones, I swear.”

The man in charge glared at the man who’d captured them before turning back to where Danny and the other boys were restrained.

“Okay, look, I want to know which one of you is so damned important it’s bringing the whole goddamned militia to my doorstep.”

“Rebel scum!”

Danny didn’t know the name of the kid that spoke out, but he rolled his eyes when the kid received a punch to the face for his efforts. Honestly, what did he expect? But, he still couldn’t quite wrap his mind around the idea that _Neville_ was coming here to…to save him or something. The man had done little to do anything aside from keep him alive enough to reach Philly and now he was riding in with the calvary to save him? Danny supposed he understood Uncle Miles coming – technically, they were family. In the weeks he’d been at the capital, he’d spent most evenings eating dinner with Uncle Miles and General Monroe, both wanting to hear about his training, everyone careful to avoid discussing _it_. Still, true to his word, Danny was allowed to go wherever he wanted so long as he was around for his training and other militia duties. Even though he’d been told that Charlie used to call General Monroe “Uncle Bass”, Danny couldn’t quite bring himself to do it.

“This doesn’t have to be hard boys,” the one Danny believed was the leader said in a conversational tone he _knew_ was a lie. “Just tell us which one of you is such an important little pawn and no one needs to get bloody.”

Many words could be used to describe Danny, some not so flattering, but still true, and Neville had used many of them – stupid was never among them. He kept his mouth shut and kept looking between the two men as though he was scared, of course he _was_ scared so it was an easy emotion to display. Unfortunately, he could feel the other boys looking in his direction. It was fleeting and might have been his imagination because he could think of many scenarios of what would happen to him when these rebels found out just exactly who he was to General Matheson, and none of them ended with rainbows and unicorns. He didn’t want to die out here, tied to a beam; he didn’t want to die at all. There were still things he wanted to know, like how Uncle Miles was able to throw a knife so hard it embedded itself in a tree and why his mother still didn’t want to see him.

When a dark shadow blocked some of the light that had been filtering in through the boards that had been tacked up to block the windows, Danny blinked up at the man, not liking the smug look on his face. Unfortunately, this man wasn’t stupid either. Danny figured that was about how his luck worked.

“Your _comrades_ have been looking at you ever since I started talking ‘bout someone being important to General Matheson. I reckon it’s you.”

Danny rolled his eyes; it didn’t matter if he denied it or not the man thought he’d found his VIP and even though Danny knew it was right, the outcome wouldn’t have been any different if he’d been wrong.

“Seems like these cowards are more interested in saving themselves than they are in protecting such a valuable commodity. I’d be offended if I was you. Not that it’s going to matter much in a few minutes – cause you’ll be dead. Nothing personal, of course. But, I’ve gotta look after mine, and you’re my only card to play.”

He kept silent as the other guy released him from the cuffs and Danny gave a fleeting thought to making a run for it, but knew he’d never make it past all the guards on his own, especially now that they knew he was someone important. Even if he didn’t quite agree with them. Being important seemed to get you dead, so Danny’d decided he’d much rather be unimportant, but like so many things recently, he didn’t have much say in his status anymore. Now he was _somebody_ because of his dear Uncle Miles.

“Gag him.”

Danny didn’t struggle when they wrapped the dirty rag around his mouth, didn’t fight when they pulled his arms behind his back, rougher than necessary for someone who wasn’t struggling and tied his hands. The leader circled him like a hawk, eyes taking in every detail of him. A few months ago, it would have been intimidating, a few months ago he might have cried, begged. A few months ago, he didn’t know Major Neville; a few months ago Danny had learned the price for showing fear.

Without warning, the leader kicked the smallest member of their little group and Danny winced as he heard the pained cry. The kick probably cracked the kid’s rib.

“Now,” the leader began as he moved back to where Danny was standing. He threw his arm over Danny’s shoulder and squeezed when he felt Danny try to move away from the touch. “Which one of you boys is going to tell me who he is? You know I’m going to beat it out of you – each of you. And if the militia and the Generals get here before you answer me, I’m going to kill you first. Might as well just tell me know, right? No need for this to be unfriendly.”

Danny rolled his eyes again. They were all dead and anyone who thought differently was an idiot.

Impatient with the lack of responses, or perhaps just because he was a brute, the leader kicked the kid again, in what Danny thought was the same place and he was pretty sure the sound he’d heard was one of the ribs cracking. He didn’t know a lot of medical stuff, but he’d been around Maggie long enough to learn a thing or two. You didn’t forget the sound of breaking bones.

“Stop! I’ll tell you, Jesus, just stop kicking me!”

Danny didn’t know the name of the kid who spoke out, but wished he did. Sure, he felt no real bond to these boys, but he liked to think he would have at least just kept his mouth shut. Maybe this was what the militia was like – people just giving you up, selling out you to save themselves. Neville’d asked him a lot of questions during the journey, things about Miles, about Charlie, about his dad, even his mom. Danny hadn’t said anything, sure some of it was because he didn’t have anything _to_ say, but when he did, he didn’t – because they were still family and saving them was all the defiance he had left.

“He – ” the kid had to fight his way through a coughing fit and Danny could see the blood on his hand. He was as good as dead. “He’s General Matheson’s nephew. They’re family.”

When he saw the gleam in the leader’s eye, Danny stiffened his spine; he would not allow another man to see his fear. But, he knew the look. He’d seen it on Neville’s face for weeks as they’d trekked away from his home and towards what he thought would be hell. Given his current predicament, he wasn’t sure he was all that wrong in his comparison.

“You’ve been holding out on me,” the leader said with the same smile Neville had on his face before he did something particularly evil. It was the smile Neville’d had on his face the night he’d bullied him into the boxing match. He’d _asked_ for someone to really hit him and when Danny’d done exactly as he’d been told, Neville’d smiled – this was that same smile.

“Does it make you feel special? From the reports it seems as though they’ve sent the whole damn army out for you, but seeing as you’re _family_ I think I understand. Nepotism and all – not even the dark ages was free from that.”

Danny couldn’t say anything with the dirty rag in his mouth, but he could glare. Maybe if the guy kept talking, Uncle Miles would have a chance of getting here before he was actually killed. It wasn’t something he allowed himself a lot of time to dwell on, but the thought was nice, unlikely though it was.

“Shoot the others,” the leader told the man who’d brought them into the building.

Danny didn’t know why he chose that minute to start struggling, but he did. He didn’t know the names of any of them, and they’d just sold him out, but he still didn’t want to see anyone else die.

The leader started laughing as he watched Danny struggle to shake the gag loose. “You’re going to protest? I thought you’d thank me for killing the men who didn’t give a damn about protecting you. Honestly, it’s a mercy killing. You have no idea what Miles Matheson would do to them – man doesn’t take well to traitors.”

He didn’t seem to be speaking to Danny anymore; his finger was absently tracing a scar that ran along his jaw. Even if he was right about Uncle Miles, which Danny figured he was, whatever he was doing out here, fighting the Republic, it was personal. He wasn’t trying to make any sort of great change, wasn’t trying to improve life for people, or keep them from being scared, or hungry – he had a personal vendetta against Uncle Miles and he didn’t care who got caught in the crossfire. From what he’d seen so far, the Republic, the militia, they were at least _trying_ to make things better, even if it didn’t always work.

“Pete! Pete, you’ve gotta come see this!”

“What?”

Danny watched the leader, Pete, turn towards the intruder and thought for a moment he’d just shoot him for interrupting.

“Come on,” Pete said as he shoved Danny forward.

He knew his eyes were wide and if there hadn’t been a gag in his mouth, it would have been hanging open. Uncle Miles, General Monroe and Captain Neville were walking directly towards them with their hands raised in surrender. He tried to catch Uncle Miles’ eye, but other than a cursory glance, Uncle Miles didn’t look at him. This was probably the worst rescue ever, not that Danny had much to go by, but this was hardly the whole army. He’d seen enough of the capital to know there were hundreds, thousands, of soldiers.

“They surrendered at the edge of the woods. Just started walking towards us.”

The three stopped when they were in front of Pete, their hands still up, but they looked relaxed, as though they did this every day.

“And you didn’t shoot them?” Pete asked.

Danny watched Uncle Miles and General Monroe exchange a look he didn’t quite understand, but if he had to guess, he’d say they were amused.

“We came to negotiate for the release of the prisoners,” Captain Neville said as though it explained everything.

“Surely you don’t mean _all_ the prisoners.” Pete directed his statement to Uncle Miles.

“Okay, look,” Uncle Miles said as he took a step forward, dropping his hands in the process.

Danny froze as he watched all the men draw their weapons and point them at Uncle Miles, watched General Monroe move as though to block the bullets with his own body. What he didn’t expect was the bored look on Uncle Miles’ face as he looked at the weapons, his eyes flicking over to Pete.

“Really? Look if you were going to shoot me you would’ve, so just put the weapons down.”

Clearly, his uncle was insane.

“Glad to see you’ve still got a pair, Matheson. You’d have to, to just come in here and demand I release the war criminals I’ve arrested.”

It was frustrating that an eye roll was all Danny could manage with his mouth gagged and his hands secured behind him, but it would have to do for now.

“War criminals?” Uncle Miles turned to General Monroe. “Did we go to war without you telling me?”

General Monroe didn’t say anything, but Uncle Miles didn’t look as though he was expecting an answer.

“Give us the men you took and we’ll leave you alone.”

“I thought you wanted to negotiate the release of the prisoners.”

“Bass and Tom, they want to negotiate. Me? I’ve been away for a while and I’m really not interested in negotiations. Never was one for politics. I wanted to just come in here and shoot you all, but I was advised on a different course of action.”

“Pete,” General Monroe began. “There’s no reason for this to get ugly.”

“You said you were interested in negotiating,” Pete made an impatient hand gesture. “Well, negotiate.”

“Give us the boy and we don’t kill you and all your men.”

“And if I don’t give you the boy?”

“Then we take the boy and kill you and all your men.”

“I don’t like those terms. It’s hardly a negotiation.”

Uncle Miles turned to General Monroe. “See? I told you it wouldn’t work.”

“There’s no way you could have known it was Pete.”

“No, but these things never work.”

“We had to try, Miles.”

“No, Bass, we didn’t.”

“Yes, we did. I don’t care what the rumors say, I don’t generally just go around shooting everyone.”

“Yeah, well this time we should have.”

“You’re right, Miles. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“You know that’s not what this is about, Bass.”

Danny watched Neville bring a hand up and massage his brow as though he’d seen something like this a million times before. Around him, Pete’s men were shuffling nervously, clearly not knowing what to do with Uncle Miles and General Monroe, who seemed to have forgotten everything around them.

“Um, sir?” Neville interrupted.

“What?” they both shouted at him in unison.

Instead of flinching back, Neville simply looked around at the men holding guns at them.

“Are you going to release them or not?” Miles asked Pete, as though just realizing they weren't alone.

“Not.”

Uncle Miles looked at General Monroe who nodded his head.

Then everything started happening faster than Danny could really follow. Uncle Miles whistled, then there were several explosions and General Monroe was throwing Danny to the ground, covering his body with his own. Uncle Miles and Neville pulled knives from wherever they’d hid them and started killing the men closest to them. After the explosions, the little area around the building filled with militia and it was chaos as everyone started fighting. General Monroe pulled Danny up and herded him over to Uncle Miles who pulled Danny behind him, again, shielding Danny from the fighting.

A gunshot rang through the air and Danny followed Uncle’s Miles’ head as it snapped over to where General Monroe had been fighting his way to where Pete had retreated back into the building. General Monroe was holding a hand to his shoulder, blood seeping through his fingers. Uncle Miles moved to go after him, but paused to glance down at Danny, who knew his eyes were wide. He felt useless and more helpless now than he had when he’d been tied to the beam.

“Damnit,” Uncle Miles mumbled.

Danny wasn’t sure who Uncle Miles was looking for, but felt his heartbeat kick up even more when he saw Uncle Miles’ gaze land on Neville who was making his way towards them.

“Get him out of here, Tom. Kill everyone.”

Uncle Miles didn’t look at him again, just pushed him towards Neville and dashed off to where General Monroe was working his way around the side of the building, blood still covering his hands. He didn’t have a chance to see if Uncle Miles reached General Monroe before Neville was pulling him away from the building.

“Come on,” Neville said as he pushed Danny in front of him.

His voice was different, it wasn’t _nice_ , but it didn’t sound quite like he wanted to murder Danny simply for his existence. Danny didn’t have time to spend too much time thinking about it because he was running, Neville close behind him. There were even more men once they were out of the clearing and in the cover of the woods. Pete’s scout had been right about Uncle Miles brining the _whole_ militia to come and get him.

“General Monroe was shot, get a surgeon here. General Matheson is getting him out,” Neville ordered the first militia member he saw.

The man nodded and ran off.

Danny looked up at Neville. “You really think they’re going to get out of there?”

Neville looked down his nose at Danny, an oddly familiar look, but it somehow didn’t feel quite as hostile. “Yes.”

He nodded, his brain still trying to catch up with everything that had happened.

“What about the other guys who were on the patrol with me? Are they going to get them out, too?”

“It’ll be better if they die in the crossfire,” Neville said with such emotion that Danny couldn’t help but remember what Pete had said about Uncle Miles not being merciful to traitors.

“Can you ride?”

Danny shook his head.

“You’ll learn. Let’s go.”

He felt numb as he followed Neville over to where a group of men were guarding about a dozen horses. They saluted Neville as he approached.

“Put your foot in the stirrup, there,” Neville pointed. “Then boost yourself up and swing your leg over.”

Danny nodded and on the second try was able to get himself into the saddle. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing, but he remembered how long they’d been walking and figured this would be better.

“Your horse will follow mine, so just keep your hands loose on the reins and you’ll be fine until we get you some training.”

Again, he just nodded because it was almost like Neville was being _nice_ to him. It was weird and Danny didn’t trust it because Neville wasn’t a nice man. Good at his job, maybe…ruthless, yes, but nice…no. Still, Uncle Miles trusted him to keep him safe, or maybe it was another test. Danny’d heard the training unit he’d been assigned to was under Neville’s command.

“I know you’re just waiting for the opportunity to present itself,” Neville said once they’d started ridding away from the clearing, a group of two dozen men with them.

“Opportunity for what?”

Neville looked back at him. “To kill me.”

Danny made sure his face was blank, the look they’d taught the first day of training.

“It’s okay, you know. That’s why Miles let me live. I’m a good officer and I love the Republic, but the way he sees it, I’m the reason his brother’s dead. The way you see it, I’m the reason your daddy’s dead. That’s okay though. I know what I am. So you keep feeding that hate, that anger, you use it to make yourself a better soldier. And when you’re ready, you come find me.”

“Why save me? If you know I’m going to kill you…why come and save me when you could’ve just let them kill me.”

“I was given orders. And, I know you’re not going to believe me, but I don’t want you dead, never did. Sure, you were a pain in my side, caused me no small amount of trouble, but I’ve never wanted you dead. Truth of it is, I think you’ll make a good soldier – you’ve got a fair bit of your uncle in you. Militia could use more men like you.”

Everything Danny thought he knew about the militia, about the Monroe Republic, about Uncle Miles, everything was wrong. He’d grown up fearing the militia, knowing they came and took the taxes, knowing they were somehow the bad guys. He remembered his dad always getting really quiet whenever the men would talk about the militia, about Philadelphia. He could never figure out why, but now he knew. Or at least suspected. Why hadn’t they been in Philadelphia with Uncle Miles? If Uncle Miles was looking for him, didn’t that mean that he wanted to be with his brother? Why was his mom the only one who went to the Capital…and why didn’t she take him and Charlie with her? He couldn’t answer any of the questions that tumbled through his mind, but he knew his mom could. She still didn’t want to see him though, no matter how long he spent knocking on the door, begging her to let him in, she wouldn’t. At first, he’d thought it was because she was locked in, like a prisoner, but Uncle Miles had shown him that the door was locked from the inside – she could leave whenever she wanted…she didn’t want to see him.

Captain Baker met them when they reached Independence Hall. Danny didn’t pay much attention to what they were saying, their hurried gestures and whispered words. He stumbled past Captain Baker and Neville, neither of whom glanced at him, and into his room. There was a fire going and a lunch tray waiting for him…one of the perks of being the General’s nephew. Like being put in life and death situations. When a messenger came in to tell him that General Matheson and General Monroe had returned to the capital, he was still sitting on the floor in front of the fire. It was nearly embers now, and he should put more logs on it to keep the room from catching a chill, but he didn’t. His entire world had been dumped on its head, and he was the only one who knew.


End file.
